The category nominees also uniformly impress, but the standout among them is surely Matthew Kressel’s ‘The Sounds of Old Earth’, the story of an old man on a largely evacuated and denuded Earth awaiting its destruction by space-based laser in order to use the resultant raw materials for a gigantic piece of space engineering. The sense of resignation has extraordinary resonance in today’s world, in which the destruction of people’s homes through flooding and natural disaster is becoming worryingly commonplace, and the image of the Earth being sliced into pieces like a hard-boiled egg is one that will stay in the memory. This was Kressel’s first Nebula nomination but, one feels, almost certainly not his last.

SFSignal has some love for “Demon in Aisle 6,” my story just out in Nightmare Magazine​ as part of their Mind Meld series, this one on What Makes the Perfect Short Story?

“One of my very favorite stories out this year has been the very recent “Demon in Aisle 6” by Matthew Kressel” (in the November 2015 issue of Nightmare Magazine), which combines a deeply tragic story about loss and guilt and also examines insular communities and the vulnerability of people without support. I will admit that this story had me in tears reading it and did so with a strong tension and a mastery of pathos. More than that, the story made me think about how far the world has come in recognizing certain kinds of people and just how little that can mean to those living under a constant threat of violence.” They also mention works by Sofia Samatar​, Carmen Machado​, Sam J. Miller​, Tiffany Trent​, Fran Wilde​ and many others.

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In Memory of a Summer’s Day

Mad Hatters and March Hares, the Alice in Wonderland-themed anthology by Ellen Datlow is just out. It contains my story “In Memory of a Summer’s Day,” and also has work by Seanan McGuire, Catherynne M. Valente, Stephen Graham Jones, Genevieve Valentine, Rick Bowes, Kris Dikeman, and many others.

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Sunray Computer

In addition to writing science fiction & fantasy, I maintain a living by working as a freelance developer, system administrator, and graphic designer. If you need a new website, IT services for your business, or a graphic designer, I’m your man.

More info about my services can be found at my business site, Sunray Computer.